Wheelchair access on a beach, lawn, or other uneven or slippery surface is difficult. Often the wheelchair challenged person is an occasional visitor. Other times, the installation of a permanent wheelchair access path is expensive, and intrusive to the natural environment. Prior art mechanisms for beach access include installations such as boardwalk extensions and concrete piers supporting platforms extending to the beach, and/or into the ocean or (body of water). Sand is a notorious barrier to wheeled traction, and the particularly narrow wheels of a wheelchair compound the difficulty of moving in a wheelchair over a sandy beach. Further, the generally immobile and permanent prior art installations, predetermine a fixed path only, over which the wheelchair may pass. There is thus a need for a simple and conveniently deployed access pathway that is useful with wheelchairs that will provide a passage means from Point A to distant Point B over terrain surfaces that resist the rolling traction of the wheelchair.
It is an object of this invention to provide a means for the transit of a wheelchair (including a person in the wheelchair) over sand, a beach, or other uneven, traction resisting surface, such as a desert, lawn and the like. It is a further object to provide such means in a temporarily deployable system, so that the presenting environment is not significantly disturbed, and conventional environmental maintenance, such as the periodic raking of a beach, or mowing of a lawn, is not appreciably interfered with, because the pathway, in certain applications, can be easily removed and replaced.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a retractable, and inexpensive, mechanism that allows the transit of wheelchairs over presenting surfaces that can generally be characterized as traction barriers to rolling conveyances. The mechanism may be permanent, temporary, or temporarily and removably installed, to allow removal when not needed or when maintenance needs require. The mechanism may also be adapted to be adjustable in direction or length and provides a greater degree of freedom for the wheelchair user to predetermine her or his location at a distant desired site on the terrain involved.
These and other objects of the invention will be more readily understood when considered with the accompanying drawings: